Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical halted operations at its naphtha cracker

September 09/2011

(ICIS) -- China’s Shanghai SECCO
Petrochemical halted operations at its 1.2m tonne/year naphtha cracker and
several downstream plants overnight following a blast at an olefins pipeline,
sources close to the company said on Friday.

The cracker is the single largest ethylene plant in China. The cause of
the blast at the company’s olefins pipeline in the petrochemical complex in
Jinshan district of Shanghai is under investigation, with no definite restart
dates set for the shut plants.

“It is too early to say when the cracker will restart,” said another
source close to the company. The company does not need to import ethylene spot
cargoes since some of the derivative units were also taken off line, he
said.